CV Joint/Difflock question

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
R

raosull

New Member
Posts
9
Location
Longford, Ireland
Hey all,
Just got my 95 Disco back after having the gearboxes and clutch done and thought that I would have gotten a few days driving out of it before something else went wrong :)

But low and behold, driving into work this morning, the CV joints finally gave up the ghost. I sounds like one has shattered and done some damage. These were on my list to get done but of course the lists can be quite long!

I will be doing the CV joints and swivel joints myself but it cannot be driven as is and I have a 60 mile trip home.

My question (finally) is :

Can I engage the difflock, remove the front propshaft and drive it home?

My understanding is that power is transmitted through the front diff, halfshaft and into the CV joints.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Ray.
 
raosull said:
Hey all,
Just got my 95 Disco back after having the gearboxes and clutch done and thought that I would have gotten a few days driving out of it before something else went wrong :)

But low and behold, driving into work this morning, the CV joints finally gave up the ghost. I sounds like one has shattered and done some damage. These were on my list to get done but of course the lists can be quite long!

I will be doing the CV joints and swivel joints myself but it cannot be driven as is and I have a 60 mile trip home.

My question (finally) is :

Can I engage the difflock, remove the front propshaft and drive it home?

My understanding is that power is transmitted through the front diff, halfshaft and into the CV joints.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Ray.
Click to expand...

Taking off the front prop shaft and locking the centre diff will NOT stop the front drive shafts from turning, but it will take the load off them.

The two front drive shaft will continue to rotate driven by the wheels.

How sure are you of your diagnosis? Rzeppa joints are most UNlikely to "shatter" (your word), and in my nearly 50 years working with them I have NEVER come across one that "shattered". That includes some trials we did way back for BL when we ran joints with no gaiters, and all the lube washed out with petrol! They eventually ground themselves away inside and made horrible bad noises, but not a one of them "shattered.

I think you'll be OK driving home the way you suggested.

Fingers crossed!

Another idea might be to squirt half a pint of EP 140 oil into each hub before the trip.

CharlesY
 
Mine used to make orrible cracking noises on full lock, so I eventually got round to changing them an looking at them I reckon they'd have gone for ever there was that little wear on em.
 
Thanks very much CharlesY.

I havent had a chance get in there and see the extent of the damage. Definitely both CV joints are in need of replacing and possibly the swivel bearings but hopefully not the half shafts. Both have been clicking badly under lock and the swivel have been leaking badly.

Hopefully full of oil and with the prop removed, it should crawl home fine.
As you say, fingers crossed!

Thanks for the help.
Ray.
 
raosull said:
Thanks very much CharlesY.

I havent had a chance get in there and see the extent of the damage. Definitely both CV joints are in need of replacing and possibly the swivel bearings but hopefully not the half shafts. Both have been clicking badly under lock and the swivel have been leaking badly.

Hopefully full of oil and with the prop removed, it should crawl home fine.
As you say, fingers crossed!

Thanks for the help.
Ray.
Click to expand...

Hi Ray,

See what Grunt says too. I bet he knows what he's on about.
We seem to be agreed that your joints may make nasty noises, but that's going to be about it! Usually the bad noises happen when you have the wheels turned away from centre.

The front hubs and Rzeppas are probably running out of lube inside, so once you get home it may be time to shove in some tubes of that thick greasy stuff made specially for the job. If you felt really heroic you would whip the outer joints out and stuff them full (like FULL) of the special gloopy-grease stuff for the job, and on re-assembly you squash the rest of it in to the hub's insides.

I don't think I would bother taking the front prop off. Just drive it home gently!

CharlesY
 
CharlesY said:
Taking off the front prop shaft and locking the centre diff will NOT stop the front drive shafts from turning, but it will take the load off them.

The two front drive shaft will continue to rotate driven by the wheels.

How sure are you of your diagnosis? Rzeppa joints are most UNlikely to "shatter" (your word), and in my nearly 50 years working with them I have NEVER come across one that "shattered". That includes some trials we did way back for BL when we ran joints with no gaiters, and all the lube washed out with petrol! They eventually ground themselves away inside and made horrible bad noises, but not a one of them "shattered.

I think you'll be OK driving home the way you suggested.

Fingers crossed!

Another idea might be to squirt half a pint of EP 140 oil into each hub before the trip.

CharlesY
Click to expand...

This happened to my mums 300TDI disco a couple of months ago, it went without warning and I towed her home and her bohyfriend who was driving it said that he could hear a grating noise from the front offside wheel as i towed him.

towed it down to a local garage the next morning and the fella new straight away what it was, took the centre cap of the wheel and didnt even have to take the wheel off to see the cv was knackered, so he fixed it, job done.

Couldnt have driven it in difflock cos its one of them where the transfer box has jammed through lack of use.


By the way to the OP i personally wouldnt bother taking off the prop.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

N
Freelander 1 rear inner cv joint - mystery ring?
Replies
4
Views
991
Nodge68
Nodge68
Ryno_SA
Disco 3 (LR3) Hot water in dripping into driver foot well!
Replies
5
Views
1K
Ryno_SA
Ryno_SA
M
Freelander 1 Front wheel driveshaft cv joint pulling out
Replies
5
Views
263
mdv
M
currymunster
Disco 1 Difflock lever gaitor
Replies
1
Views
479
discool
discool
T
Drive shaft cv joint ?? ( SOLVED )
2 3
Replies
57
Views
4K
Thommo805
T
Back
Top